Missing
by Chittering
Summary: Something is missing and it is annoying Sanzo.


Sanzo sat in the window, his silhouette dark against the darker sky. The stars twinkled past the glass of the window, no rain tonight to make the nightmares come.

But still, something wasn't quite right.

Sanzo couldn't put his finger on what was bothering him. This admission was perhaps worse than the feeling itself. If he knew the source of his irritation, he could destroy, maim, or at least threaten it a little. However, he wasn't left with any of those escape methods. Not knowing the reason for his foul mood he could only steep in it. A pale wisp of smoke curled past his sneering lips.

"Shit."

That exhalation had been the end of his last cigarette. He could go next door to take a few of Gojyo's, but the kappa's cigarettes always left him feeling worse than before.

Sanzo slid off the window, robes rustling softly from where they hung around his waist, scripture packed away for the night. If he wanted his cigarettes, he'd just have to get them himself. Gojyo and Hakkai got strange sometimes at night when he interrupted them and Goku was off doing whatever it was that Goku did. Inwardly, Sanzo cursed the monkey. He had said that Goku wasn't his servant and that was true enough, but that didn't mean that he couldn't be a bit useful once in a while. He was such a pain. Sanzo didn't know why he put up with him at all.

Sanzo's next breath hissed out with frustration. What was wrong with him tonight? Violet eyes narrowed as he walked out onto the cobble-stoned street of their current village. If anyone so much as looked at him in way that he didn't approve of he'd make sure that it was the last look they ever gave.

The town was surprisingly quiet for that early in the night, but Sanzo would have figured as much. It was a pretty dull place and was merely living up to his estimates. Still... One could never be quite certain. Sometimes it was towns like this that were the most troublesome. A thug didn't have to know that he was a Sanzo to try to mug him. Tonight, though, Sanzo was not in the mood.

His footsteps were loud in the relative quiet, the sandals slapping against the cool stone beneath. As Sanzo turned a corner he realized that it wasn't just his own footsteps that were echoing off the stone buildings, but someone else's.

Who would have the nerve to follow him?

Maybe a fight was exactly what he needed to simmer down some. Or, more likely, it would turn an annoying night into a shitty one, and Sanzo was more fed up with those than with the cockroach singing in the shower. Because of this, Sanzo sped up his pace a little. After all, maybe it was a coincidence that the only other person out was following him around.

Right.

Sanzo briskly passed another corner, the footsteps behind him only sounding the louder. Great. The only thing that could make his night any worse was...

A dead end.

A dead. Fucking. End.

Sanzo bared his teeth and spun around, hand reaching for his gun beneath his robes. He'd kill whatever bastard had the balls to challenge him. They didn't deserve if they had so few brain cells to think that they could bully him into forking over his cash or whatever it was they wanted.

Sanzo's fingers had just brushed the cold surface of his weapon when his stalker rounded the corner.

And grinned at him.

"Heya, Sanzo! Are'ya lost?"

All of that... because of the monkey. It was more than Sanzo could tolerate. His fingers passed right by the gun and locked firmly onto the fan beside it. Goku's eyes widened as he realized what was coming, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid the blows.

"DAMN MONKEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT THIS LATE? WHY THE HELL ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME, ANYWAYS? DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL YOU?"

"Hey! Cut it out!" yelped Goku, cowering and covering his head before the next strike. "I just went out because... because..."

"Because what?" Sanzo felt all of his irritation at the day building up and prepared to unleash it upon the unsuspecting monkey. It was only what he deserved.

"Because I was buying you this." Tentatively, Goku held one hand forward, holding what Sanzo now recognized as... cigarettes. His brand. The reason he was out there in the first place.

Sanzo stood for a moment, uncomprehending of the entire situation. He had thought Goku was just exploring. He could have told him where he was going. That would have prevented the whole situation from happening in the first place. If he had so much as mentioned that he was going out, Sanzo could have just stayed back in his room. Sanzo mentally filed through all of his possible reactions. He wasn't really quite certain what applied here, but-

"Hey, Sanzo?" Goku's timid voice cut through his thoughts and Sanzo gave him a harsher glance than he had meant to. Still, Goku went on. "Sanzo... how about we head back to the inn now?"

Sanzo glanced briefly about the deserted alleyway. There wasn't anything left to do out there. Careful not to so much as imply he had Goku, he walked past him, leaving the monkey to trot after him.

"Hey... Where are we going?" The now empty plastic bag billowed off Goku's arm as he began to half-jog to keep up with Sanzo's fast walking pace.

"What do you think we're doing, baka?" growled Sanzo. "We're heading back to the inn."

Goku heard the hint of amusement to the voice and knew that Sanzo was himself again. He let his expression slide into a happy grin. "Guess what? I also bought some dried squid for the car tomorrow! See?"

Sanzo let the monkey brandish the package in his face with only a sigh for admonishment. He was feeling strangely calm now, especially when contrasted with the rest of the night.

Yelling at the monkey must have taken up all of his energy. That had to be it.

Walking back to their room with Goku, the night didn't seem so dark after all. The moon beamed down overhead and maybe even the roads looked a bit less dingy.

Things were right again.


End file.
